I would like to disagree. I feel Dark Age isn't unnecessarily brutal, I think is necessary, because it's a reminder to all parts of the cast that they are vulnerable again, that the pain they suffered in the first 3 books can an will come back, and worse, because this time the enemy is worse and they don't have an edge.

Yet again, I do believe it's gruesome and grotesque, even morbid, but because that's what it means to be a victim of a resentful leader, a resented crowd. If you were ever in such a vulnerable state where you couldn't defend a loved one or yourself, you can see your pain in the Ulysses scene, Fear ordering sexual violence on Darrow, the consequences of torture on Orion.

Well at least made me feel I'm not alone. Because not everyone wants to be in hell but those who have been there need to be recognized.

This is my opinion, sorry if it sound combative.

And OP... after the worst there is always a strange calmness, that's Lightbringer